Starcom MediaVesthttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/6875/all
enInteractive Soccer Ads Boost Mondelez Awareness 220%http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/mondelez-gets-220-awareness-lift-interactive-video-ads-166035
Lauren Johnson<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/2015_Jul/mondelez-ecommerce-ads-hed-2015.png"> <p>
Brands are looking for more action with their video ads, and snack giant Mondelez and Bic are two that are betting that big buttons on preroll ads are interesting enough to get consumers to spend a few extra seconds with their promos.</p>
<p>
In May, Mondelez announced plans to turn all of its digital and social ads into <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/mondelez-bets-big-e-commerce-shoppable-ads-and-buy-now-buttons-164897" target="_blank">e-commerce-enabled ads. </a>The first multibrand U.S. campaign to come out of that investment was a Women&#39;s World Cup ad for Chips Ahoy cookies, Trident gum and Ritz Crackers with video vendor Innovid.</p>
<p>
Fifteen-second preroll ads started running on Fox.com&#39;s desktop and mobile sites in June, when the World Cup kicked off, and continued through July 5, when the U.S. women&#39;s team beat Germany in the final.</p>
<p>
An image of U.S. player Alex Morgan popped up in the bottom left corner of the ads. Hovering over Morgan for a few seconds opened an overlay on the video where people could watch other clips, shoot a virtual soccer ball, follow a Twitter hashtag or click through to buy snacks at Walmart, Target and Amazon.</p>
<p>
As the tournament progressed, the snack brand started turning out more real-time content from its social media newsroom to pipe into the ads.</p>
<p>
Between June and July, Mondelez&#39;s promos got a 220 percent boost in awareness, and engagement went up 88 percent.</p>
<p>
Mondelez declined to state how many people clicked through to buy snacks but said the interactive portion of the ad got people to spend 66 extra seconds with the campaign.</p>
<p>
&quot;For the first time, we were leveraging paid media to dial up our own earned media beyond the 15-second video,&quot; said Stephen Chriss, senior director of U.S. consumer engagement and marketing services at Mondelez.</p>
<p>
Mondelez&#39;s campaign was one of the first to come out of Starcom Mediavest Group&#39;s Content@scale effort, which helps brands build ads on the fly with ad-tech partners like Innovid.</p>
<p>
&quot;We have seen increases in awareness, just in perception, when you have that relevant content,&quot; said Lindsay Lichtenberg, svp and director, publishing platform and partnerships, Starcom Mediavest Group.</p>
<p>
Meanwhile, Bic and agency Cramer-Krasselt are seeing similar results as part of the brand&#39;s all-digital marketing budget for 2015. The razor brand started running mobile and Web-video ads in March with an interactive game in which people click or swipe the screen to shave a long-haired, heavily bearded man. Once he&#39;s cleaned up, folks can watch videos or go to Bic&#39;s social-media pages.</p>
<p>
<img alt="" src="http://www.adweek.com/files/2015_Jul/razor.png" style="width: 652px; height: 370px;" /></p>
<p>
All told, people spent 65 seconds with Bic&#39;s ads&mdash;more than double what they would spend watching a 30-second preroll. &quot;We look at it as a commercial within a commercial,&quot; said Meghan Salonia, Bic&#39;s brand manager.</p>
<p>
A few extra seconds spent clicking around on ads with a lot of action may not seem unexpected, but Tal Chalozin, CTO and co-founder of Innovid, said even a little bit of extra time pays off for brands.</p>
<p>
&quot;This whole idea is that marketers have been building a lot of content. What we wanted to do is build an easy way to take all that content and put it inside your video experience,&quot; he said.</p>
Technology2015 FIFA Women's World CupBicMondelezRitzStarcom MediaVestLauren JohnsonVideovideo advertisingWomen's World CupWed, 22 Jul 2015 11:01:01 +0000166035 at http://www.adweek.comAd Network Takes Steps to Ensure Consumers Actually See Mobile Promoshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/using-mrcs-guidelines-millennial-media-tackles-mobile-viewability-164690
Lauren Johnson<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/2015_May/millennial-mobile-viewability-hed-2015.jpg"> <p>
As consumers shift from desktops to smartphones, advertisers want to make sure promos shift with them. To that end, the Media Ratings Council recently&nbsp;<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/marketers-react-mobile-viewability-criteria-challenges-loom-164595" target="_blank">released its first guidelines for maximizing mobile viewability</a>.&nbsp;And now ad network Millennial Media is adopting standards that go even further.</p>
<p>
Working with Integral Ad Science, Millennial is guaranteeing advertisers that 100 percent of mobile ads served within apps are viewable for one second. That number is far higher than the 50 percent standard recommended by the Media Ratings Council&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="http://mediaratingcouncil.org/050415_Mobile%20Viewability%20Interim%20Guidance_final.pdf" target="_blank">temporary policy.</a>&nbsp;(The council said it will release official standards by the end of the year.)</p>
<p>
Millennial first polled agencies and marketers on its advisory council about their top priorities for mobile advertising in 2015. One of the biggest topics to come out of those conversations was mobile viewability. And executives from Starcom MediaVest, MEC, Initiative, IPG Mediabrands, Camelot Comms and Telefonica UK have all agreed to use Millennial&#39;s new measurement tool.</p>
<p>
Jason Kelly, president of managed media at Millennial Media, said best practices around mobile viewability are currently limited, but he believes his company is poised to change that.</p>
<p>
&quot;The feedback that we got from the market was, &#39;You guys have been in mobile for almost 10 years, you have the level of scale and technical ability to be able to take this on. Why not?&#39;&quot; Kelly said.</p>
<p>
At launch, only interstitial and banner ads served in the U.S. and U.K. will benefit from the new guarantee, with a global roll out expected by the end of this year. The company will guarantee views on its programmatic and mobile ads soon.</p>
<p>
That assurance is valuable to marketers,&nbsp;said Steven Traykovski, svp, digital director at MediaVest USA, and mobile viewability should be on par with desktop.</p>
<p>
&quot;Mobile in-app viewability has been assumed to be high, but without data to measure it, there were few controls available to marketers to ensure ads were seen,&quot; he said.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 14px;">&quot;What we are looking for ultimately is full protection across the mobile ecosystem to include brand safety, protection against non-human traffic as well as metrics on viewability.&quot;</span></p>
<p>
Millennial will work with the Media Ratings Council, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the 4A&#39;s and the 4Ms (a mobile group within the Association of National Advertisers) to dig into mobile measurement and standards.</p>
<p>
&quot;This is just an opportunity to get ahead of [the issue]&mdash;it&#39;s highly topical,&quot; said Millennial CEO Michael Barrett.</p>
Technologydigital ad viewabilityIPG MediabrandsMECMillennial MediaMobileLauren JohnsonMobile advertisingmobile marketingmobile viewabilityStarcom MediaVestTue, 12 May 2015 13:00:01 +0000164690 at http://www.adweek.comMaker Studios Wants to Make a Little Something for Everyonehttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/maker-studios-wants-make-little-something-everyone-164373
Michelle Castillo<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/maker-rachel-zoe-hed-2015.png"> <p>
<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/5-tech-brands-made-noise-newfronts-week-157532" target="_blank">Last year</a>, Maker Studios asked attendees at its Digital Content NewFronts presentation to learn what &quot;I am Maker&quot; means. In 2015, it&#39;s turning the tables and asking brands, agencies and the public, &quot;Who are you?&quot;</p>
<p>
&quot;Everything is narrowing&mdash;niche casting becomes the new norm, so the old blanket approaches won&#39;t yield the same results,&quot;&nbsp;Maker Studios chief content officer Erin McPherson said</p>
<p>
The Disney-owned multi-channel network, or MCN, unveiled a slate of more than 200 shows in development, 30 of which it is actively pursuing now. To explain the wide variety of programming, McPherson emphasized that Maker Studios knows its millennial and Gen Z audiences demand more focused content to appeal to their individual tastes. Currently, the MCN has 55,000 independent creaters from more than 100 countries, and gets more than 10 billion views a month.</p>
<p>
&quot;At Maker, we think about distribution, about connecting the right content with the right audience across all platforms,&quot; McPherson said. &nbsp;</p>
<p>
Maker Studios&#39; new series include:</p>
<br />
<ul>
<li>
Maker Tales is a gritty, live-action take on classic fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood and Pinocchio. &nbsp;</li>
<li>
American Woman is Maker Studios&#39; attempt to enter the 2016 election conversation with a series exploring the history of the original 13 colonies through the eyes of women. It is produced in conjunction with ABC&#39;s Lincoln Square Productions. &nbsp;</li>
<li>
I Am Maker is a reality TV series in development with <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/abc-family-doubles-down-original-programming-reach-young-women-164058" target="_blank">ABC Family</a> that follows 10 up-and-coming YouTubers mentored by Maker&#39;s top talent as they launch their online careers. &nbsp;</li>
<li>
CAMP follows youth at a fictional summer camp exploring their sexuality and is based on James Franco&#39;s Palo Alto: Stories. The project was developed through <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/can-data-help-maker-studios-guarantee-hit-walking-deads-robert-kirkman-163334" target="_blank">Maker Labs</a> with Franco&#39;s production company, Rabbit Bandini. &nbsp;</li>
<li>
Upcoming content with stylist Rachel Zoe &nbsp;</li>
<li>
Summer X Games programming in conjunction with ESPN &nbsp;</li>
<li>
Marvel programming with the comic book publisher &nbsp;</li>
<li>
Online video network MiT&uacute; and Starcom MediaVest&#39;s group LiquidThread will collaborate with the MCN to create content targeted toward Hispanic youth</li>
</ul>
<p>
Maker also unveiled Maker Select, a way for ad buyers to purchase content on its YouTube inventory. The new offering, which was created in conjunction with Outrigger Media&#39;s Open Slate platform, will offer Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings and already has both DigitasLBi and Starcom MediaVest on board.</p>
<p>
&quot;Our basic need for human connection has only been enforced and emboldened,&quot; McPherson said. &quot;We are all turned into makers, and our canvas proliferates daily.&quot;</p>
TechnologyTelevisionThe PressAbcDigitas LBiDisneyMichelle CastilloJames FrancoLiquidThreadMaker Labsmaker studiosNewFrontsOnlineRabbit BandiniStarcom MediaVestVideoTue, 28 Apr 2015 19:56:35 +0000164373 at http://www.adweek.comIs Facebook Trying to Edge Out YouTube?http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-trying-edge-out-youtube-164163
Michelle Castillo<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/popsugar-rush-hed-2015.jpg"> <p>
On April 30, Popsugar will announce a daily show called Popsugar Rush at its <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/guide-2015-newfronts-and-upfronts-164062" target="_blank">Digital Content NewFronts</a> presentation. But rather than have viewers catch the program on its women&#39;s lifestyle channel on YouTube, they&#39;ll be directed to Facebook where it will run exclusively for 24 hours.</p>
<p>
&quot;In every way, we are crafting the video specifically to be optimized for Facebook,&quot; said Popsugar Studios president David Grant.</p>
<p>
Hosting such exclusive programming appears to be Facebook&#39;s latest move toward becoming a dominant player in streaming video. BuzzFeed and ABC&#39;s Jimmy Kimmel Live also recently struck a deal with Facebook, while a number of other publishers say they have projects in the works.</p>
<div class="news-article-image">
<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/2015_Apr/obama-selfie-buzzfeed-hed-2015.jpg" />
<p class="caption">
BuzzFeed put its video featuring President Obama promoting HealthCare.gov on the social network.</p>
</div>
<p>
Popsugar&#39;s relationship with Facebook is paying off. Between September 2014 and February 2015&mdash;when Popsugar started creating optimized video featuring short, highly visual content&mdash;the publisher said its Facebook views jumped to 18.5 million from just 20,000. &quot;Facebook has become a natural extension of our brand,&quot; said Anna Fieler, Popsugar&#39;s evp of marketing.</p>
<p>
There is a strong push to provide exclusive content to Facebook, which the social network is &quot;aggressively&quot; asking for, say several publishers contacted by Adweek. One publisher who requested anonymity noted that while posting a YouTube link to his video on Facebook produced weak results, the same content posted directly to Facebook led to millions of views. Facebook, he said, had &quot;no desire&quot; to see YouTube&#39;s preroll ads on its platform as it affected the user experience.</p>
<p>
Facebook denied that exclusive videos are part of its core strategy, adding that it works with partners to make content that will resonate with its users regardless if those items will appear elsewhere. YouTube declined to comment on this story.</p>
<p>
&quot;Most companies know that a best practice on Facebook is that an image of a video performs better than a direct link [to a third-party player],&quot; noted Paul Kontonis, executive director of the Global Online Video Association. &quot;But Facebook native video performs better than everything.&quot;</p>
<p>
Facebook seems to be offering other incentives. Though the team at Jimmy Kimmel Live came up with the idea for a series on local bands that performed at this year&#39;s South by Southwest, co-executive producer Doug DeLuca said the main reason it <a href="http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/jimmy-kimmel-live-videos-local-bands-sxsw/617706" target="_blank">created programming exclusively for Facebook</a> was that it promised to help promote the content. The content was pushed through premium placements on Facebook-managed community pages and blogs. &quot;Discovery tends to be easier on Facebook when you are doing something specific,&quot; he said. &quot;I don&#39;t know if as many people would have found [the series] if we had posted it on our YouTube channel among celebrity-driven, high-profile pieces.&quot;</p>
<p>
While Facebook has done a limited number of video ad deals, publishers have been told traditional ads are on the way. In the meantime, sources said the social network will announce the expansion of branded-content program Facebook Anthology at a meeting with publishers, brands and agencies in New York on April 22. Anthology connects advertisers with publishers to create Facebook-native content&mdash;<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/branded-video-drives-budweisers-latest-push-made-america-159176" target="_blank">Budweiser&#39;s 2013 Made in America partnership with Vice</a>, for example. Other Anthology participants include Vox, The Onion and Funny or Die.</p>
<p>
The finely tuned targeting capabilities around Facebook video are grabbing the attention of marketers. And no wonder. Facebook targeting by age, gender and location boasts up to 94 percent accuracy while its video player can derive deeper insights and metrics than other competitors, including YouTube, per Universal McCann.</p>
<p>
Still, said Kevin Cronin, partner, search and social at UM, YouTube remains the leading platform for driving views overall. He cautions that if Facebook is asking publishers for exclusive content, marketers creating branded content might balk at having to limit that content to a single platform.</p>
<p>
James Crolley, media director at Starcom MediaVest, noted that while Facebook has an autoplay feature, videos can easily be passed over in a feed. The challenge, he said, is &quot;it does require creative to be far more impactful.&quot;</p>
TechnologyBuzzfeedFacebookFacebookFacebook AnthologyFunny or DieMichelle CastilloMagazine ContentPaul KontonisPopSugarSouth By SouthwestStarcom MediaVestThe OnionVoxYoutubeMon, 20 Apr 2015 00:37:18 +0000164163 at http://www.adweek.comHere's Why Marketers Are Flocking to Mobile World Congress in Spainhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/heres-why-marketers-are-flocking-mobile-world-congress-spain-163230
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/mobile-world-congress-crowd-hed-2015.jpg"> <p>
More than 70,000 tech, marketing and other digital industry professionals are in Barcelona this week for the 28th annual <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/nissans-ceo-says-apples-car-making-initiative-good-news-us-163224" target="_blank">Mobile World Congress</a>. It&#39;s not as ridiculously big as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which saw 170,000 attendees, but it&#39;s about twice the size of South By Southwest Interactive held yearly in Austin, Texas.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
While the touristy location on Spain&#39;s eastern Mediterranean coast is certainly an attraction, we asked marketers about the real reasons for being here&mdash;their business objectives. This is the first Mobile World Congress for Brian Yamada, chief innovation officer at <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/4-shops-vie-hondas-digital-account-157831" target="_blank">VML</a>. He traveled more than 4,000 miles from his digital ad agency in Kansas City, Mo., drawn by the event&#39;s all-mobile focus.</p>
<p>
&quot;At the end of 2014, there were over 12 billion connected devices,&quot; he said. &quot;That number will continue to grow, so regardless of the industry of our clients, the ongoing evolution of mobility will impact them.&quot;</p>
<p>
Matt Mulderink is svp, director of mobile and social, product and partnerships at Starcom MediaVest Group. He punched a ticket to the show so he could get a sneak peek at new devices and ways for consumers to communicate in the near future.</p>
<p>
&quot;We&#39;re really trying to lean into industry events where we feel the people attending and the content served up are on the mark as to where things are going,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#39;s time for marketers to answer&mdash;without flinching&mdash;&#39;what is their global mobility strategy?&#39; With each device that rolls out, people&#39;s expectations are raised for what technology can do. There&#39;s an urgency to bone up. This is the show for that.&quot;</p>
<p>
Stuart Revell, CTO of techUK, agreed with Mulderink, and said he&#39;s looking forward to milling around the conference&#39;s endless stream of vendor exhibits to unearth consumer and business trends. &quot;These companies represent some of the most innovative technologies,&quot; he said.</p>
<p>
New York company xAd, which specializes in location-based mobile advertising technology, sent a team to get feedback on its products from marketers. &quot;We&#39;re using this year&#39;s event to showcase our beta tool, Footprints, which allows marketers to visualize mobile activity in stores and ultimately drive sales,&quot; said Katy Zack, a rep for xAd. &quot;We&#39;re building functionality now, and use [Mobile World Congress] to talk to leading mobile experts from around the world about what features they&#39;d like to see included in the road map.&quot;</p>
<p>
Speaking of road maps: Parknav, which offers real-time street parking visualizations in numerous markets, is one of the digital startups at the conference. The Chicago-based company is sharing a booth with fellow Windy City tech hopeful, Georama, which is an international travel app. Their booth is marked with a big sign that reads: The State of Illinois.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In the Instagram video below, they briefly tell us what the deal is with the sign.&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
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<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;">
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<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;">
<a href="https://instagram.com/p/zusKfvRA8I/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Jeremy Leval, director of marketing for Parknav, and Nihal Advani, Georama&#39;s CEO, riff on why the State of Illinois sent them to Spain:</a></p>
<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">
A video posted by @adweekreports on <time datetime="2015-03-02T14:59:06+00:00" style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;">Mar 2, 2015 at 6:59am PST</time></p>
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<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><p>
And lastly, Yamada from VML comments on how Mobile World Congress is similar to the Consumer Electronics Show in this clip.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
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<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;">
<a href="https://instagram.com/p/zumxG1xAzM/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Brian Yamada, Chief innovation officer at VML on #MWC:</a></p>
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A video posted by @adweekreports on <time datetime="2015-03-02T14:11:56+00:00" style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;">Mar 2, 2015 at 6:11am PST</time></p>
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<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>TechnologyBarcelonaMobileMobile World CongressMwcStarcom MediaVestChristopher HeineVMLMon, 02 Mar 2015 18:53:21 +0000163230 at http://www.adweek.comFor the Advertising and Tech Elite, CES Is Shaping Up to Be the Next Canneshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/ces-shaping-be-next-cannes-advertising-and-tech-elite-mingle-162146
Garett Sloane<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/ces-lasvegas-hed-2014.jpg"> <p>
When the tech world comes to Las Vegas this week to show off its hardware, a shadow convention will thrive behind the scenes. It&#39;s the one for the advertising industry that goes anywhere shiny new screens take it.</p>
<p>
Indeed, companies seemingly unrelated to gadgets will be at the Consumer Electronics Show, turning it into the first big advertising conference of the year that many say rivals Austin&#39;s SXSW and is even as important as the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/chipotle-honda-win-multiple-gold-lions-branded-content-no-one-takes-grand-prix-158503" target="_blank">Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity</a> in France.</p>
<p>
That&#39;s why the major media holding companies like Starcom Mediavest and Omnicom Media Group are taking over Las Vegas hotels to court clients and connect to the latest technology. There will be VIP dinners and celebrity events, and while the main show is on the convention center floor in well-lighted booths, the most important meetings will take place in the background, in the hotel suites, where top executives from the tech and advertising world come together to plan marketing&#39;s future.</p>
<p>
&quot;A big part of CES is timing, six months ahead of Cannes, and it comes right out of the holiday,&quot; said Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Omnicom Digital. &quot;This sets the tone and agenda for the year.&quot;</p>
<p>
Nelson has seen an evolution at CES over the past decade, transforming into a high-level advertising convention as much as it is a place for new hardware. Last year, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/yahoo-reboots-ad-business-attempt-own-ad-tech-154812" target="_blank">Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was the main speaker</a> at the show, and her aim was mostly ad focused.</p>
<p>
This advertising agenda has become more formalized over the years. It used to be that agencies would only send a handful of tech enthusiasts, but now the entire C Suite and most important clients are in attendance.</p>
<p>
&quot;It&#39;s a great place to come together because you know most of the decision makers will be in Vegas,&quot; Nelson said.</p>
<p>
David Berkowitz, CMO at MRY, said he&#39;s also seen the growth of the marketing convention within CES. He&#39;s been coming for almost a decade and used to be the only ad person in the room.</p>
<p>
This year, for the first time, there will be a location dedicated to the marketing, advertising and tech elite: <a href="http://www.cesweb.org/Show-Floor/What-to-See-at-C-Space" target="_blank">the C-Space at the Aria,</a> which is being run by MeidaLink.</p>
<p>
&quot;The C-Space is designed for marketers and the broader creative community. That&#39;s a huge change that marks a big shift in approach to CES,&quot; Berkowitz said. &quot;In many ways this shadow show has nothing to do with CES in any meaningful way.&quot;</p>
<p>
While the tech world focuses on the hardware shown on the convention room floor these marketers, brands and software companies will be focused on where to put the ads.<br />
&quot;It&#39;s almost a question of which show will you be attending,&quot; Berkowitz said.</p>
<p>
MRY is using the electronics show as a way to connect its brand clients with the startups that look to break out in Las Vegas and present new marketing platforms.</p>
<p>
&quot;A favorite spot of mine is Eureka Park where you have some companies that are a little bit weird and sometimes really innovative,&quot; Berkowitz said.</p>
<p>
MRY is owned by Starcom MediaVest, which will have a fully loaded attack plan for Las Vegas, including one of the bigger parties of the week.</p>
<p>
Dave Marsey, evp managing director of DigitasLBi in San Francisco, will be showing clients around the convention and meeting with startups. &quot;This is still about tech and hardware at its core but it&#39;s really a marketing conference, too, around how do you make sense of all this technology,&quot; Morsey said.</p>
<p>
On top of the media and creative agencies, all the major tech players will be here. Google, Facebook, <a href="http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/105627148249/headed-to-ces" target="_blank">Yahoo </a>and LinkedIn represent some of the more established players, and companies like Snapchat and Pinterest, not typically associated with hardware and still new to advertising, also will be in Las Vegas to take advantage of the marketing firepower.</p>
<p>
&quot;The timing of CES makes it a great place for us to kick off the year with our agency partners and customers,&quot; said Russel Glass, LinkedIn&#39;s head of marketing products. &quot;For us, it&#39;s an opportunity to get smart about the industry landscape, and understand how new products and services will affect key customers and the clients our agencies work with.&quot;</p>
Technology2015 CESadvertising technologyCannesConsumer Electronics ShowDavid BerkowitzGarett SloaneLas VegasMarketingMRYOmnicom DigitalOmnicom Media GroupStarcom MediaVeststartupsSxswMon, 05 Jan 2015 21:44:22 +0000162146 at http://www.adweek.comHow Ads That Empower Women Are Boosting Sales and Bettering the Industryhttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-ads-empower-women-are-boosting-sales-and-bettering-industry-160539
Roo Ciambriello<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/femvertising-awxi-hed-2014_0.png"> <p>
They have become some of the most popular and polarizing ads in recent years. And despite the negative commentary, despite the trolling, despite all the anonymous sneering, advocates say these ads are working.</p>
<p>
Marketing campaigns that empower women and girls rather than perpetuating stereotypes are proving to be hits with consumers and highly effective at generating sales, according to an Advertising Week panel of industry leaders behind some of the past year&#39;s top female-focused campaigns.</p>
<p>
Titled &quot;Fem-vertising: Women Demand More From Brands,&quot; Thursday&#39;s session in New York defined the movement as &quot;advertising that employs pro-female talent, messages and imagery to empower women and girls.&quot;</p>
<p>
Presented by lifestyle site SheKnows, which created <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/how-make-ban-bossy-less-polarizing-actually-ask-young-girls-what-they-think-156644" target="_blank">the #BossyIs video featuring young schoolgirls,&nbsp;</a>the panel was moderated by the site&#39;s chief revenue officer, Samantha Skey, and featured:</p>
<p>
&bull;&nbsp;Lauren Greenfield, director of <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/girl-no-longer-insult-inspiring-ad-pgs-always-158601" target="_blank">Always&#39; #LikeaGirl campaign</a> and winner of multiple Clio Awards<br />
&bull;&nbsp;Kathy O&#39;Brien, vp of marketing services at Unilever (who chatted about <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-dove-shows-moms-just-what-theyre-teaching-their-girls-about-beauty-160477" target="_blank">the Dove Legacy film released on Wednesday</a>)<br />
&bull;&nbsp;Katie Ford, president and managing director of Starcom MediaVest Group<br />
&bull; Pam Grossman and Jessica Bennett, the women behind <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/getty-images-sheryl-sandberg-getty-images-team-make-stock-photos-women-more-empowering-155649" target="_blank">Sheryl Sandberg&#39;s jointly curated Lean In Collection on Getty Images</a></p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 0;">
<img class="fancyzoom" data-fancybox-src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/femvertising-awxi-panelists-2014.png" src="/files/imagecache/test-width/femvertising-awxi-panelists-2014.png" />
<p class="caption">
Panelists Jessica Bennett, Lauren Greenfield and Samantha Skey &nbsp;</p>
</div>
<p>
The discussion focused not only on advertising featuring women but also on the role the marketing industry plays in perpetuating negative stereotypes.</p>
<p>
&quot;Many, many brands make their livelihood selling on the insecurity of women and girls, and that&#39;s not going away,&quot; said Greenfield, author of the book Girl Culture.</p>
<p>
But women control 85 percent of household purchasing decisions, and they&#39;re also vocal about the types of ads they want to see. In a survey conducted by SheKnows, 71 percent of women said brands should be use their ads to promote positive messages to women and girls, while 81 percent said pro-female ads are important for younger generations to see.</p>
<p>
And while some people might balk and point out that advertising is a business, not a Kumbaya circle, the brands that are doing it right are also achieving amazing results.</p>
<p>
While each of the featured projects has achieved a level of viral success (the #LikeaGirl video has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs" target="_blank">reached nearly 50 million views since June</a>), they&#39;ve also had varying levels of product focus, with some such as Dove and Pantene barely incorporating products at all.</p>
<p>
So the online success of such ads might be nice, but is it actually doing anything for sales?</p>
<p>
Short answer: Yes.</p>
<p>
<img src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/femvertising-awxi-slide-2014.png" /></p>
<p>
Dove sales jumped from $2.5 billion to $4 billion since the launch of of its Campaign for Real Beauty, and Grossman noted that sales from Getty Images&#39; Lean In Collection have grown 66 percent since February 2014.</p>
<p>
&quot;There&#39;s a real relief in seeing yourself reflected,&quot; Greenfield said, noting that women feel a strong connection when a brand can portray something relatable.</p>
<p>
&quot;There&#39;s a pay gap, a leadership gap and visual gender gap,&quot; Bennett noted. &quot;You can&#39;t be what you can&#39;t see.&quot;</p>
<p>
Panel members also noted that pro-women advertising isn&#39;t alienating; the movement positively affects men, as well. Men are also invested in making sure women and girls are empowered and have a healthy body image, and the Always campaign and Getty Images have received feedback from men praising them for their efforts.</p>
<p>
&quot;Imagery of strong women has been great for men, too,&quot; Grossman said. &quot;They want to support their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.&quot;</p>
Advertising & BrandingAdvertising WeekAlwaysDoveGetty ImagesLean InRoo CiambrielloSheryl SandbergStarcom MediaVestUnileverFri, 03 Oct 2014 16:15:44 +0000160539 at http://www.adweek.comStarcom MediaVest CEO Becomes Chair of Ad Councilhttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-council-names-new-chair-158769
Kristina Monllos<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/unknown-10_1.jpeg"> <p>
Starcom MediaVest Group&#39;s global CEO Laura Desmond today was named board chairman of the Advertising Council. Desmond succeeds Debra Lee, CEO of BET Networks.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The appointment continues the Ad Council&#39;s tradition of rotating its leadership each year between media companies, advertising agencies and corporate advertisers.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;Laura is one of this country&#39;s most respected leaders in the media and advertising communities,&quot; said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Ad Council. &quot;Her business acumen, marketing expertise and outstanding leadership will be instrumental to furthering our mission and the goals of our campaigns.&quot; Conlon recently announced that she will <a href="http://www.adcouncil.org/News-Events/Press-Releases/Peggy-Conlon-President-and-CEO-To-Retire-from-The-Advertising-Council" target="_blank">retire at the end of this year</a>; the search for her replacement, which executive search firm Stewart Spencer is running, is under way.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Desmond has served on the council&#39;s executive committee as vice chair since 2012. David Kenny, CEO of The Weather Company, will replace Desmond as the vice chair of media for the council. Kenny will work with David Christopher, chief marketing officer of AT&amp;T and vice chair of advertisers. Desmond will serve as chair of the board until June 2015, when the leadership will rotate again and Christopher will succeed her.</p>
<p>
&quot;The Ad Council is an essential part of our media eco-system,&quot; said Desmond in a statement. &quot;They are creating inspiring and educational content every day. I look forward to the many things we will be able to accomplish together.&quot;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Under Desmond, the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/topic/ad-council" target="_blank">Ad Council&#39;s</a> pro bono work with media agencies has increased.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
Advertising & BrandingAd Councillaura desmondStarcom MediaVestStarcom MediaVest GroupMon, 07 Jul 2014 18:26:13 +0000158769 at http://www.adweek.comOmnicom Exec Says Twitter Deal Is About Mobile, Video, Programmatichttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/omnicom-exec-says-twitter-deal-about-mobile-video-programmatic-157972
Garett Sloane<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/mcdonalds-twitter-hed-2014.jpg"> <p>
Omnicom Media Group will now get first dibs on some of Twitter&rsquo;s evolving ad products, including new digital video formats, according to the people involved in a broad media deal announced Tuesday. Omnicom committed to spend at least <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/twitter-omnicom-deal-combines-mobile-ad-forces-157961" target="_blank">$230 million over the next two years,</a> which will open special access to Twitter and its MoPub mobile exchange.</p>
<p>
All of Omnicom&rsquo;s business units&mdash;its creative agencies, media buying teams and data/measurement operations&mdash;will benefit from the Twitter tie-in, according to Jonathan Nelson, CEO of Omnicom Digital.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Take the component pieces of the deal apart&mdash;it&rsquo;s programmatic, it&rsquo;s video, it&rsquo;s mobile, it&rsquo;s got a big number [price tag], and it&rsquo;s got first-looks,&rdquo; said Omnicom Digital CEO Jonathan Nelson.</p>
<p>
The mega-deal is becoming the norm for social media buying, just last week <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/publicis-facebook-strike-deal-over-instagram-and-video-ads-157833" target="_blank">Publicis announced</a> a sprawling Facebook partnership, and its <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/twitter-starcom-mediavest-group-sign-huge-ad-deal-148826" target="_blank">Starcom MediaVest Group has Twitter commitments.</a> Omnicom entered a special arrangement <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/instagram-omnicom-deal-signals-future-digital-advertising-156308" target="_blank">with Instagram</a> earlier this year.</p>
<p>
The latest Omnicom deal takes advantage of the latest Twitter offerings. Here is a look at the key points:</p>
<p>
<strong>Video</strong><br />
Twitter is making a big push into video with a new one-click format and more brands trying it out. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a coming of age for Twitter, moving past 140 character into distributed immersive video,&rdquo; Nelson said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s interesting.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
<strong>First-looks</strong><br />
Omnicom clients&mdash;including brands like McDonald&rsquo;s, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Budweiser&mdash;will test new ads from Twitter, which has been experimenting with more direct response marketing tools. The newest ad will be open to brands working with Omnicom agencies like TBWA, BBDO, and DDB.</p>
<p>
<strong>Programmatic</strong><br />
In a first, Omnicom&rsquo;s programmatic ad buying machine called Accuen will integrate with Twitter&rsquo;s MoPub ad exchange, which serves ads outside of Twitter and reaches more than a billion users.</p>
<p>
<strong>Data</strong><br />
Omnicom and Twitter are cooperating on targeting capabilities and campaign measurements. &ldquo;There will be better data, better targeting and new types of inventory,&rdquo; Nelson said.</p>
TechnologyAccuenBbdoDataDdbdigital videoGarett Sloaneinstagram advertisingJonathan NelsonOmnicom DigitalOmnicom Media GroupPublicisSocialStarcom MediaVestTbwaTwitterTwitterTwitter ad salesTwitter adsTwitter advertisingtwitter analyticstwitter dataTue, 27 May 2014 21:54:30 +0000157972 at http://www.adweek.comPublicis Groupe, Facebook Strike Deal Over Instagram and Video Ads [Updated]http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/publicis-facebook-strike-deal-over-instagram-and-video-ads-157833
Garett Sloane<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/facebook-app-iphone-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Facebook and Publicis Groupe announced a broad ad partnership today drawing another media agency closer to the social network. Facebook&rsquo;s photo-sharing app Instagram also is part of the multi-year deal with the French media holding company and its Starcom MediaVest Group, which committed to spend &ldquo;hundreds of millions of dollars.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;[The deal] focuses on the future areas of digital marketing including data, image-based storytelling and online video advertising, offering the agencies&rsquo; clients new opportunities ahead of the marketplace,&rdquo; a Facebook rep said in a statement to Adweek.</p>
<p>
Starcom CEO Laura Desmond led the talks for all of Publicis, and the expansive media deal comprises digital agency underlings like Razorfish and DigitasLBi. It is not the first companywide commitment from Publicis, but not all deals have included the whole organization. Last year for instance, Starcom negotiated individually with Twitter in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars.</p>
<p>
The Facebook deal was worth more than <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/twitter-starcom-mediavest-group-sign-huge-ad-deal-148826" target="_blank">the Twitter one,</a> a source familiar with the terms said, although exact terms were not disclosed.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
What makes the agreement unique is the fact that Facebook was able to include access to new ad products and audience insights that were not available until recently.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This partnership is about inventory plus innovation,&rdquo; said a source close to Starcom. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about creating the infrastructure that needs to be put in place to advertise on Facebook.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Publicis will develop advertising tools to integrate with <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/what-advertisers-need-know-about-facebooks-mobile-ad-network-157389" target="_blank">the Facebook Audience Network,</a> which was launched on mobile last month. Publicis also will have access to Instagram and Facebook video ads; both <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/instagram-video-ads-are-coming-soon-157308" target="_blank">require close communication with the social network,</a> which carefully approves all advertising content. A source close to Facebook said that deals with the media holding companies are the best way to expand Instagram&rsquo;s ad business, which does not offer any programmatic tools for the buying and selling of ads.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Facebook is nurturing that environment to make sure ad experiences that come in are very natural to Instagram,&rdquo; said one source not authorized to discuss the Publicis deal publicly.</p>
<p>
Facebook and Instagram have done similar deals in the past, offering media agencies unique ways to access inventory and test new ad products. Omnicom, which <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/publicis-and-omnicom-call-quits-merger-157570" target="_blank">almost merged with Publicis,</a> has negotiated relationships with Facebook and Instagram, according to industry sources not authorized to discuss such deals. Omnicom signed a <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/instagram-omnicom-deal-actually-worth-40-million-156200" target="_blank">deal earlier this year with Instagram.</a></p>
<p>
Sources said that Facebook&rsquo;s deals typically include early access to new products, the ability to target customized audiences, and unique campaign insights and measurements based on its data.</p>
<p>
The big advertising firms and media companies have increasingly embraced social media, especially Facebook&rsquo;s 1.3 billion users. Slightly smaller platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter also work closely with media companies that jointly develop advertising products and infrastructure.</p>
<p>
For instance, Starcom worked with Twitter on a social TV lab to help brands run campaigns timed to television viewing.</p>
<p>
Here are the keys to the Facebook-Publicis deal:</p>
<p>
<strong>Data</strong><br />
Facebook will help Publicis build target audiences, experiment with measurements, and create advanced analytics to study campaigns. Facebook calls it reaching &ldquo;precision audiences at scale.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
<strong>Content</strong><br />
Starcom MediaVest will integrate its CONTENT@SCALE ad platform into Facebook&rsquo;s newly launched mobile ad network, which serves ads on partner apps outside the social network.</p>
<p>
<strong>Instagram</strong><br />
Publicis will have access to inventory on Instagram, which is very selective about content on the photo platform. Instagram works closely with advertisers who want to market there.</p>
<p>
<strong>Video</strong><br />
Facebook says it will work closely with Publicis to create ads for <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/brands-are-anxious-about-facebook-s-cautious-video-rollout-153577" target="_blank">its new autoplay video product,</a> which show right in users&rsquo; News Feeds.&nbsp;</p>
Technologyautoplay videoDatadataDealFacebookGarett SloaneFacebook videoFacebook video adsInstagraminstagram adsinstagram advertisingLinkedInMedia AgenciesMedia AgencyPublicisPublicis GroupeSocialStarcom MediaVestStarcom MediaVest GroupTwitteruser dataMon, 19 May 2014 16:55:17 +0000157833 at http://www.adweek.comStarwood's Crazy Facebook ROI and 5 Other Surprising Brand Reveals http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/starwoods-crazy-facebook-roi-and-5-other-surprising-brand-reveals-156674
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/starwood-fb-promoted-hed-2014.jpg"> <p>
The mid-morning session of the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/big-data-players-riff-instagram-video-and-ukulele-156660" target="_blank">5th I-Com Global Summit</a> was a bit of a beauty contest in Seville, Spain, as marketers shared case studies for the event&#39;s Data Creativity Awards.</p>
<p>
Here were the six biggest brand reveals:</p>
<ol>
<li>
Starwoods Hotels got $2 million in bookings in Asia thanks to targeted Facebook page post ads on a budget of roughly $40,000. Digital shop Brand Karma presented those numbers along with the eyebrow-raising claim that the social ads at times produced as high as a 50X return on investment. The initiative is going global due to the results, per Brand Karma co-founder Mario Jobbe. With brands&#39; <a href="http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/facebook-exec-snarkily-confirms-brands-big-fear-their-content-isnt-important-156662" target="_blank">organic reach apparently on the downturn</a>, Starwood&#39;s results at least provide hope for companies with a big social media budget.</li>
<li>
While <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-johnson-johnsons-acuvue-uses-real-time-data-148764" target="_blank">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a> considers Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to be important platforms, marketers for the packaged goods company said they get the best data about mothers from J&amp;J-owned <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/birthing-classes-yes-theres-app-142816" target="_blank">BabyCenter</a>. From teething issues to infant items, moms simply share more on the brand&#39;s in-house social community, providing invaluable intel. &quot;We know that one-third of [mothers] have their second child between months 18 and 24,&quot; offered Summer Schiavo, a global insights director for J&amp;J.</li>
<li>
<a href="http://talent.adweek.com/gallery/Axis-Bank-Website-Redesign/4700245" target="_blank">Indian bank Axis</a> doubled its digital ads spend last year, while increasing brand awareness by 12 percent and customer considerations by 4 percent. Aarti Bharadwaj, vp of analytics at the brand&#39;s media shop, Starcom MediaVest, explained to Adweek that it wasn&#39;t easy getting the client on board because marketing in India is even more dominated by TV and print than it is in the United States. She talks about changing the brand&#39;s strategy in an Instagram video below.</li>
<li>
Aren&#39;t <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/brand-apps-need-provide-utility-stay-visible-155422" target="_blank">branded mobile apps</a> essentially dead in the water? Not if your marketing for Brita, as agency Rapp presented to the audience a case for gamification. &quot;We found that people need to be convinced that their water filter needs to be [regularly] changed,&quot; said Loren Grossman, Rapp&#39;s global strategy chief. So they award points when Brita customers check their filter, clean it, etc. Though it would have been nice if Grossman revealed the app&#39;s actual number of users.</li>
<li>
Nova Spivack, CEO of Bottlenose, said that only 10 percent of Twitter users permit location-based targeting, according to his politics-focused data firm&#39;s findings.</li>
<li>
Overheard in the hall: Mobile banner ads get markedly better engagement on Sunday mornings for automotive brands. It&#39;s apparently the time of the week when smartphone-tethered consumers are feeling unusually aspirational.</li>
</ol>
<p>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="710" scrolling="no" src="//instagram.com/p/mP2Fy4utYK/embed/" width="652"></iframe></p>
Advertising & BrandingInteractiveAxis BankBabyCenterBottlenoseBrand KarmaChristopher HeineFacebookI-Com Global SummitIndiajohnson & johnsonMobile advertisingPinterestRappStarcom MediaVestStarwood HotelsTwitterTue, 01 Apr 2014 14:57:01 +0000156674 at http://www.adweek.comGoogle Inks Upfront Deal with MediaVest http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/google-inks-upfront-deal-mediavest-153371
Garett Sloane<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/google-ipad-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Google has entered into a major upfront ad deal with MediaVest.</p>
<p>
The two announced a pact today that commits Publicis-owned MediaVest and its clients like Walmart, Coca Cola and Honda, to a major digital presence across Google properties (like YouTube) and partner sites.</p>
<p>
MediaVest has committed tens of millions in ad spending, according to <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d5ee3f7a-3cc4-11e3-86ef-00144feab7de.html#axzz2ifU0ASU2" target="_blank">the Financial Times</a>, which first reported on the story. A source with knowledge of the deal said it extends over multiple quarters.</p>
<p>
This is Google&#39;s first deal with such a large agency buying upfront, but it&#39;s a model the company hopes becomes routine.</p>
<p>
&quot;The momentum is building for a shift on the digital side to move to more of an upfront model, which is what buyers are used to on TV,&quot; one digital ad buyer said.</p>
<p>
Google has hosted digital upfronts in the tradition of major TV networks over the past several years, specifically for YouTube.</p>
<p>
But the deal with MediaVest allows brands to advertise across the Google landscape from YouTube to premium websites to mobile apps.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This new partnership truly enables MediaVest to realize the promise of online video at scale, which has been talked about but rarely realized,&rdquo; said Christine Merrifield, MediaVest president of investment, activation and operations, in a statement released today.&nbsp;</p>
Advertising & BrandingTechnologyTelevisionAccountsCoca ColaCoca-ColaGarett SloaneDigital DisplayDigital UpfrontDigital UpfrontsDisplaydisplay adsGoogleGoogleHondaMediaVestMobileMobile adNetworksPublicisSearchSocialStarcomStarcom MediaVestUpfrontVideoWalmartYoutubeAgencyThu, 24 Oct 2013 20:28:37 +0000153371 at http://www.adweek.comThe Roadblocks of Native Advertisinghttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/roadblocks-native-advertising-153261
Lucia Moses<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-native-ads-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Could native advertising be hitting a wall?</p>
<p>
Marketers and publishers continue to fall all over themselves to create messaging that doesn&rsquo;t look like advertising and that doesn&rsquo;t annoy the reader. But the format is facing growing pains.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Agencies aren&rsquo;t ready to turn on a dime and do this,&rdquo; Rey Peralta, svp, director of creative technology at Deutsch, New York, said during a panel discussion last week hosted by Livefyre. &ldquo;Everyone has to get in the same room. It&rsquo;s incredibly challenging.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Jordan Kretchmer, founder and CEO of Livefyre, which acts as a middleman between publishers and advertisers by amplifying social conversation about brands across the Web, also pointed the finger at agencies. Seeing as they work on native ads for no extra money and are not set up to corral all those who need to be involved in the process, agencies &ldquo;currently aren&rsquo;t incentivized to really push for native ads and, therefore, are many times the blocker in getting a native campaign pushed through,&rdquo; Kretchmer responded in an email. The process is ineffective and needs to change, he added.</p>
<p>
Like agencies, clients often aren&rsquo;t structured to take on native, often finding it is easier and faster to buy programmatic ads.</p>
<p>
This friction is a problem for digital publishers that are banking on native and other premium-priced ad formats to stem the rush of ad dollars to lower-CPM <a href="/node/152741">programmatic ads</a>. For marketers, it&rsquo;s a chance to move beyond the hated banner ad and create messaging that&rsquo;s more engaging.</p>
<p>
It also doesn&rsquo;t help that there&rsquo;s no agreement on what native advertising is or on how to measure its effectiveness. And that&rsquo;s before the content itself is even created, a process that by its nature is fraught because the ad has to serve the advertiser without annoying the reader.</p>
<p>
The lack of a universally agreed-upon definition of native advertising is a drag on the process and can lead to missed opportunities.</p>
<p>
Peralta recalled one case in which Deutsch handled the creative and another agency, Starcom MediaVest, did media planning. &ldquo;There was nothing to point to and say, &lsquo;This is what we&rsquo;re doing,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had to get on 20 phone calls a day to explain it to all the partners.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We need to make it easier for our sellers to understand,&rdquo; added Adam Solomon, vp of digital ad products and services at Time Inc.</p>
<p>
For all its roadblocks, there seems to be agreement that native advertising isn&rsquo;t just the flavor of the month. In a recent survey, 73 percent of Online Publishers Association members said they offer native ads, with the potential to reach 90 percent by year&rsquo;s end.</p>
Advertising & BrandingTechnologyMarketingDeutschLivefryeMagazine ContentLucia Mosesnative advertisingprogrammatic buyingStarcom MediaVestMon, 21 Oct 2013 02:42:11 +0000153261 at http://www.adweek.comCould WPP Be Next to Strike Media Deal With Twitter?http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/could-wpp-be-next-strike-media-deal-twitter-148894
Noelle McElhatton<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/unknown-2_4.jpeg"> <p>
WPP is looking closely at rival Publicis Groupe&rsquo;s newly minted media partnership with Twitter, a deal <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/twitter-starcom-mediavest-group-sign-huge-ad-deal-148826" target="_blank">revealed earlier this week</a> that gives Publicis&rsquo; Starcom MediaVest Group access to Twitter&#39;s advertising products, data and preferred ad slots.</p>
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WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell, who has said he views Twitter as a PR medium rather than an advertising one, suggested to Adweek that he won&#39;t rule out a similar deal with the microblogging site.</p>
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&quot;They [Twitter] have told us it&rsquo;s not an exclusive deal,&quot; Sorrell told Adweek after he spoke at the Financial Times Digital Media Conference in London today. He added that the marketing communications group &quot;works with Twitter all the time&quot; and that WPP was awaiting &quot;more detail&quot; on the Publicis deal.</p>
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Sorrell&rsquo;s comments come during a big week for Twitter, both <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/comedy-central-launches-twitter-based-comedyfest-148802" target="_blank">good</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/ap-twitter-account-hacked-148841" target="_blank">bad</a>.&nbsp;</p>
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Bonin Bough, the global media chief of Trident parent Mondelez International&mdash;which is partnering with Twitter to produce Trending 10, the first TV show to be sourced from real-time tweets&mdash;told conference attendees that as a CPG advertiser, Trident needed the reach of a channel like Twitter to engage with the 18-34 demo.</p>
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In his talk, Sorrell also revealed that Google, which last year received $2 billion of WPP&rsquo;s ad spend, is likely to overtake News Corp. as its single biggest media investment by 2014.</p>
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Citing data from the U.S., where WPP spends $40 billion annually on media, Sorrell said there is a big disparity between advertisers&#39; print spend and consumers&#39; print usage. &quot;We are investing 20 percent [of WPP clients&#39; media budgets on magazines and newspapers], but consumers are only spending 7 to 10 percent of time [consuming print],&quot; he said. &quot;That has to change.&quot;</p>
TechnologyAgencyMartin SorrellPublicisStarcom MediaVestWPPNoelle McElhattonThu, 25 Apr 2013 17:43:33 +0000148894 at http://www.adweek.comMicrosoft Tries for Better Cinema Adshttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/microsoft-tries-better-cinema-ads-146288
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-heine-microsoft-cinema-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
People expect to see trailers for other films when they go to the movies, but increasingly audiences have been subjected to ham-handed, repurposed ads for other kinds of products while they wait for the feature to start.</p>
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Now, Microsoft is attempting to create dedicated ads for the pre-movie experience that will actually entertain viewers. The tech giant has signed a two-year deal with <a href="http://www.ncm.com/?CenterstageIndex=1" target="_blank">National CineMedia (NCM)</a> to use two-minute cinema spots, plus interactive in-lobby display ads and on-package promos, in NCM&rsquo;s 183 markets (19,300 movie screens) nationwide.</p>
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It&rsquo;s the first time that the cinema network has attracted a long-term advertiser to its platform after a 10-year history of one-off campaigns with Microsoft as well as others including Samsung, Old Navy, Kraft, Taco Bell and Best Buy. In the new arrangement, Microsoft plans to push the Windows Phone 8 before showings of such films as <em>The Hobbit</em>, <em>Les Miserables</em>, <em>Zero Dark Thirty</em> and others.</p>
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&ldquo;We see cinema as a great way for us to go beyond that 30-second TV ad and continue a conversation with consumers in an interesting way,&rdquo; said Betsy Webb, gm of global media at Microsoft Marketing. &ldquo;Branded entertainment on the big screen will let us tell stories about people&rsquo;s lives and how they use technology.&rdquo;</p>
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The creative running this winter will feature the &ldquo;life story&rdquo; of Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings. The long-form spot will detail how the volleyball player uses her Windows Phone 8 to Skype with her husband and three kids while training for the 2016 Olympics. Unlike past in-cinema efforts, the brand contends, these ads will come across as informative sponsored entertainment instead of dry product pitches. Starcom MediaVest&rsquo;s content division, LiquidThread, is handling the creative. The agency will also promote Microsoft&rsquo;s tablet device, Surface, as well as the company&rsquo;s Xbox and Windows 8 operating system down the road, marking the first time Microsoft is promoting its portfolio of consumer electronics in movie theaters.</p>
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Nielsen has tracked in-cinema ad spending for international markets in recent years and plans to start measuring spending in the U.S. in 2013. Spends in trend-setting Asia, per Nielsen, grew by as much as 40 percent in 2012, suggesting the space is indeed an emerging force. Globally, the firm found that in the first half of last year only Internet (+7 percent) and radio advertising (+6.6 percent) grew more than in-cinema (+6 percent).</p>
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Paul Lindstrom, svp of custom research at Nielsen, said in-cinema advertising is growing with marketers trying to reach 18- 34-year-olds as TV viewers age.</p>
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Moviegoers are a captive audience. The big screen and surround sound also appeal to marketers, he said.</p>
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&ldquo;Microsoft could be a tipping point,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Once somebody recognizes the value, other brands will start taking a more serious look.&rdquo;</p>
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That might as well be soundtrack music to the ears of Cliff Marks, president of marketing at NCM. &ldquo;I believe Microsoft will show that in-cinema branded entertainment is not just something being talked about,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s being done, and done well.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
TelevisionCinemaLes MiserablesLiquidThreadMagazine ContentMicrosoftChristopher HeineNational CineMediaStarcom MediaVestSurfaceThe HobbitWindows Phone 8Zero Dark ThirtyMon, 07 Jan 2013 05:01:44 +0000146288 at http://www.adweek.com